Data communications suffer from the weakness of intentional invasion by snoopers and other third-party interlopers. Even in cases where data communications are encrypted using some secure mechanism, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), it is still possible for traffic analysis to be conducted where, both endpoints of the communication and how much traffic is passed between them may be determined. This is information that the endpoints may not have wanted to be public. In addition, some data communications may operate in environments where certain types of cryptography and ciphering are not a legal alternative for implementation.
Some conventional techniques for protection of broadcast data communication schemes generally present a few problems with data security. One problem is that the end points of the data communication cannot reliably authenticate who they are speaking with. Another problem is that information within the data communication may be disclosed to parties who the endpoints do not want to see the information.
In addition, conventional techniques for protection of broadcast data communication schemes do not provide for the secure ordering of sequences of messages sent in a randomized order. As a result, any third-party eavesdropper may find out who was supposed to receive which messages and in what order the messages were supposed to be sent. This is especially the case in those broadcast channels where export controls and legal restrictions on cryptographic software exist. Similarly, conventional techniques for protection of broadcast data communications typically have the problem that a broadcaster cannot guarantee that an intended recipient actually receives and processes the messages in a particular sequence in which the broadcaster intended the recipient to receive the messages. In light of the above problems, a way to ensure that broadcast of data communications falling under a sequenced order are not vulnerable to traffic analysis would be beneficial.
In addition, such a solution calls for the reliable and anonymous generation of the initial sequence number and thereby following sequence numbers. A solution that allows for the generation and communication of sequence numbers without having to publish what the initial sequence number (and thereby the following sequence numbers) are without having to reuse the same sequence would be beneficial.